Archive for April, 2007

Car bomb kills 9 U.S. troops in Iraq

APExcerpt
A suicide car bomber rammed into an American patrol base in Diyala on Monday, killing nine soldiers and wounding 20, the military said. All were members of the 82nd Airborne’s 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, the military said. Fifteen of the 20 were treated and later returned to duty, while five others and an Iraqi civilian were evacuated to a medical facility, it said.

In its Web posting Tuesday, the Islamic State of Iraq put the number of Americans killed at 30.

“Almighty God has guided the soldiers of the Islamic State of Iraq to new methods of explosions,” it said without elaborating. The message appeared on a Web site that frequently airs communications from militants, but its authenticity could not be independently confirmed.

It was single deadliest attack on ground forces since Dec. 1, 2005, when a roadside bomb killed 10 Marines and wounded 11 on a foot patrol near Fallujah.

HL’s Take
Just another day of Carnage in Bush’s war that he wants to go on forever. If we had pulled out Iraq like everyone wants to that would be 9 more soldiers that were still alive, 9 less families who’s lives would be ruined for the lie. The insurgents will never give up. Just like we would never give up if some foreign country invaded us and tried to take it over, steal all our resources and kill our citizens indiscriminately. We would be out in the streets fighting them with everything we had, and we would be right for doing so. There is a civil war going on over there and we can’t stop it. A civil war that broke out after we took out Saddam. Everyone knew it was going to happen, but Bush didn’t care he had to have his permanent military bases over there, and had to pump that oil out of unmetered wells to the tune of Millions of dollars a day. Lets end this already.

This is from a letter to Craigslist, from a soldier whose live Bush has ruined along with oh so many. Of course most of our men and women in Iraq feel the same way

I’m having the worst damn week of my whole damn life so I’m going to write this while I’m pissed off enough to do it right.

I am SICK of all this bullshit people are writing about the Iraq war. I am abso-f***ing-lutely sick to death of it. What the f**k do most of you know about it? You watch it on TV and read the commentaries in the newspaper or Newsweek or whatever god damn yuppie news rag you subscribe to and think you’re all such f**ing experts that you can scream at each other like five year old about whether you’re right or not. Let me tell you something: unless you’ve been there, you don’t know a god damn thing about it. It you haven’t been shot at in that f**king hell hole, SHUT THE F**K UP!

How do I dare say this to you moronic war supporters who are “Supporting our Troops” and waving the flag and all that happy horse shit? I’ll tell you why. I’m a Marine and I served my tour in Iraq. My husband, also a Marine, served several. I left the service six months ago because I got pregnant while he was home on leave and three days ago I get a visit from two men in uniform who hand me a letter and tell me my husband died in that f**king festering sand-pit. He should have been home a month ago but they extended his tour and now he’s coming home in a box.

You f**kers and that god-damn lying sack of shit they call a president are the reason my husband will never see his baby and my kid will never meet his dad.

And you know what the most f**ked up thing about this Iraq shit is? They don’t want us there. They’re not happy we came and they want us out NOW. We f**ked up their lives even worse than they already were and they’re pissed off. We didn’t help them and we’re not helping them now. That’s what our soldiers are dying for.

Oh while I’m good and worked up, the government doesn’t even have the decency to help out the soldiers whos lives they ruined. If you really believe the military and the government had no idea the veterans’ hospitals were so f**ked up, you are a god-damn retard. They don’t care about us. We’re disposable. We’re numbers on a page and they’d rather forget we exist so they don’t have to be reminded about the families and lives they ruined while they’re sipping their cocktails at another fund raiser dinner. If they were really concerned about supporting the troops, they’d bring them home so their families wouldn’t have to cry at a graveside and explain to their children why mommy or daddy isn’t coming home. Because you can’t explain it. We’re not fighting for our country, we’re not fighting for the good of Iraq’s people, we’re fighting for Bush’s personal agenda. Patriotism my ass. You know what? My dad served in Vietnam and NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

So I’m pissed. I’m beyond pissed. And I’m going to go to my husband funeral and recieve that flag and hang it up on the wall for my baby to see when he’s older. But I’m not going to tell him that his father died for the stupidty of the American government. I’m going to tell him that his father was a hero and the best man I ever met and that he loved his country enough to die for it, because that’s all true and nothing will be solved by telling my son that his father was sent to die by people who didn’t care about him at all.

F**k you, war supporters, George W. Bush, and all the god damn mother f**kers who made the war possible. I hope you burn in hell.

Lawmakers to open Tillman-Lynch hearing

APExcerpt
WASHINGTON – As the Army probed Pat Tillman’s death, investigators implored the CIA and Pentagon last year to scour their databanks for aerial video of the friendly fire incident, footage they believed might have been captured as a Predator drone flew over the scene.

Lawmakers plan to press the Pentagon on Tuesday with questions still hovering over the one-time National Football League star’s shooting: Was a drone flying overhead when Tillman was killed? Did it videotape the incident?

The military says no such videotape exists, but members of Congress hope to elicit the new information when the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform holds a hearing as part of an investigation into misleading information from the U.S. military. Members of Tillman’s family, who have continued to raise questions about the incident, were also scheduled to appear.

The most recent investigation by the Army, released last month, documented a monthslong search for the video. The undertaking “suggests the distinct possibility that a Predator drone overflew the battle scene, and, if it did, may have captured yet-unrevealed material information,” said Daniel Kohns, a spokesman for Rep. Mike Honda, a Democrat who represents the San Jose, Calif., area where Tillman grew up.

HLs Take
It’s the story that refuses to die. Something fishy was going on when Pat Tillman was killed by his own men. Was it done on purpose to shut him up.? Tillman was questioning what was going on over there, and with his status as a guy who walked away from a multi-million dollar NFL contract people would have listened to him. Was this a case of The Army killing its own on purpose. You know that has happened in the past. They will do anything to stop the truth of their dirty deeds coming out. Congress is going to take a shot at it now. We’ll be following this story till the end.

Bush administration under a cloud

APExcerpt
A rundown of Bush appointees who left under a cloud or face conflict-of-interest allegations

_Scooter Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in a grand jury investigation into the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. His trial also implicated top political adviser Karl Rove and Cheney in a campaign to discredit her husband, Iraq war critic and retired ambassador Joe Wilson (news, bio, voting record). Libby, who plans an appeal, is awaiting a June 5 sentencing.

â€¢ Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is fighting to hold onto his job in the face of congressional investigations into his role in the firing of eight U.S. attorneys. Two top aides have resigned in the investigation into whether the firings were politically motivated. Emails and other evidence released by the Justice Deparment suggest that Rove played a part in the process. Other e-mails, sent on Republican party accounts, either have disappeared or were erased.

â€¢ Paul Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank and a former deputy defense secretary, acknowledged he helped arrange a large pay raise for his female companion when she was transferred to the State Department but remained on the bank payroll. The incident intensified calls at the bank for his resignation.

â€¢ J. Steven Griles, an oil and gas lobbyist who became deputy Interior Secretary J., last month became the highest-ranking Bush administration official convicted in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal, pleading guilty to obstructing justice by lying to a Senate committee about his relationship with the convicted lobbyist. Abramoff repeatedly sought Griles’ intervention at Interior on behalf of Indian tribal clients.

Navy sifts Blue Angels wreck for clues

APExcerpt
PENSACOLA, Fla. – Investigators looked through wreckage Sunday to determine what caused a Navy Blue Angel jet to crash during a maneuver, while the military identified the fallen pilot as a 32-year-old who was performing in one of his first air shows with the team.

At Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina, the site of Saturday’s crash, a somber crowd watched Sunday as six jets flew overhead in formation. Smoke streamed behind one of the jets as it peeled away from the others to complete the “missing man formation,” the traditional salute for a lost military aviator.

“The spirit of the pilot is in the arms of a loving God,” said Rob Reider, a minister who was the announcer for the air show.

The crash happened as the team was performing its final maneuver Saturday afternoon during the air show. The team’s six pilots were joining from behind the crowd of thousands to form a triangle shape known as a delta, but Davis’ jet did not join the formation.

Moments later, his jet crashed just outside Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, hitting homes in a neighborhood about 35 miles northwest of Hilton Head Island, S.C. Debris â€” some of it on fire â€” rained on homes. Eight people on the ground were injured, and some homes were damaged

The last fatal Blue Angel crash was in 1999, when a pilot and crewmate died while practicing for air shows with the five other Blue Angels jets at a base in Georgia. Saturday’s crash was the 26th fatality in the team’s 60-year history

HLs Take
So what is the story with this BS. These guys fly in formation inches apart to try to look cool. Why? Everytime I go to a Football game now you get the 4 planes doing a “flyover” during the national anthem. Everytime I say “what is the purpose of that?” to let everyone know that we live in a militaristic country run by a war mongering madman. Whenever I saw that I said to myself “one of these days those idiots are going to crash into each other, hopefully not over a stadium full of people. Turns out 26 pilots have been killed. That means 26 multi-million dollar aircraft have also been destroyed. Thats coming out of our pockets people. We pay for that useless spectacle. Not to mention the jet fuel we also have to pay for. It’s time this garbage was put to a stop.

For almost seven years, George W. Bush has repeatedly violated the Constitution and stripped away the fundamental rights that define our country. Congress and the American people have let it happen.
The America we know is disappearing, and the time to reverse this trend is now. I urge you to act immediately to:

1. Restore habeas corpus and due process.
2. Pass the Restoring the Constitution Act of 2007.
3. End torture and abuse in secret prisons.
4. Stop extraordinary rendition: secretly kidnapping people and sending them to countries that torture.
5. Close the detention center at GuantÃ¡namo Bay and give those held there access to justice.
6. Investigate wrongdoing and ensure those who broke the law are held accountable.
7. Restore American values and the rule of law.

Democrats weigh post-veto Iraq options

Huffington PostExcerpt
The options are being weighed as Bush and Congress head toward a showdown this week on his Iraq policy. House and Senate appropriations committees meet Monday to negotiate a final bill that, if approved by both chambers, could reach the president’s desk as early as the end of the week…
Rep. John Murtha (news, bio, voting record), D-Pa., who chairs the House panel that oversees military funding, said he wants a bill that would fund the war for just two or three months. Before that second bill would expire in summer, Democrats would try again to pass legislation calling for an end to combat.

Bush has said the military needs more than $90 billion through September, most of which would finance combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Murtha’s proposal would give Democrats time to try to rally support among Republicans growing increasingly frustrated with the war who have so far been reluctant to tie the hands of their GOP president.
The tact also would attract party liberals in the House who don’t want to fund the war at all.

Karl Rove Gets Thrown Under the Stop Global Warming Bus

Huffington PostExcerpt
We asked Mr. Rove if he would consider taking a fresh look at the science of global warming. Much to our dismay, he immediately got combative. And it went downhill from there.

We reminded the senior White House advisor that the US leads the world in global warming pollution and we are doing the least about it. Anger flaring, Mr. Rove immediately regurgitated the official Administration position on global warming which is that the US spends more on researching the causes than any other country.

We felt compelled to remind him that the research is done and the results are in (www.IPCC.ch). Mr. Rove exploded with even more venom. Like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum, Mr. Rove launched into a series of illogical arguments regarding China not doing enough thus neither should we. (Since when do we follow China’s lead?)

At some point during his ramblings, we became heartbroken to think that the President of the United States and his top advisers have partially built a career on global warming not being real. We have been telling college students across the country for the past two weeks that government does not change until people demand it… well, listen up folks, everyone had better get a lot louder because the message clearly is not getting through.

In his attempt to dismiss us, Mr. Rove turned to head toward his table, but as soon as he did so, Sheryl reached out to touch his arm. Karl swung around and spat, “Don’t touch me.” How hardened and removed from reality must a person be to refuse to be touched by Sheryl Crow? Unphased, Sheryl abruptly responded, “You can’t speak to us like that, you work for us.” Karl then quipped, “I don’t work for you, I work for the American people.” To which Sheryl promptly reminded him, “We are the American people.”

HL’s Take
Karl Rove is not used to being touched by girls. He must have really freaked out. It must have seemed so “gay” to him.
Its OK thought there will be plenty of time for him to be touched by lots of guys in prison. He has afterall committed treason many times.

Republican Congressman Dana Rohrbacher just can’t stand to be interrupted, so when members of Codepink did so during a recent Congressional Hearing, he said he hoped their families suffer the consequences of the next terrorist attack. See for yourself.

Wolfowitz Backed Friend for Iraq Contract in â€™03

NY TimesExcerpt
WASHINGTON, April 19 â€” Paul D. Wolfowitz, while serving as deputy secretary of defense, personally recommended that his companion, Shaha Ali Riza, be awarded a contract for travel to Iraq in 2003 to advise on setting up a new government, says a previously undisclosed inquiry by the Pentagonâ€™s inspector general.

The inquiry, as described by a senior Pentagon official, concluded that there was no wrongdoing in Mr. Wolfowitzâ€™s role in the hiring of Ms. Riza by the Science Applications International Corporation, a Pentagon contractor, because Ms. Riza had the expertise required to advise on the role of women in Islamic countries.

Mr. Wolfowitzâ€™s office said it could not comment on the latest disclosure. Ms. Rizaâ€™s lawyer, Victoria Toensing, did not respond to a request for a comment.

The disclosure of Mr. Wolfowitzâ€™s role in Ms. Rizaâ€™s contract in 2003 provides a new indication of his involvement in her employment, at a time when the World Bankâ€™s board is investigating his role in arranging for a large salary increase, a promotion and a transfer for Ms. Riza when he came to the bank in 2005.

The disclosure also came on a day of swirling pressure at the bank, where the 24-member executive board met into the evening to discuss the situation amid mounting calls for Mr. Wolfowitzâ€™s resignation.

Bank officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were divulging proceedings that were not supposed to be made public, reported that the rift between employees and the president had become a major distraction from their work, with some employees wearing blue ribbons in a display of defiance against his leadership.

â€œPeople feel paralyzed,â€ one official said. â€œNo one is doing any work at all. This genie can never go back to the bottle.â€

HLs TakeLooks like Wolfie is on his last legs. Of course as long as Bush has anything to say about it he’s got a job for life.

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The Hollywood Liberal started in 2004 at the height of the Bush Administration madness in America.
We were inspired by the late great Bartcop.com. The very first thing I did when the site started was to get arrested at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. My arrest at the start of a march from The World Trade Center was later ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge. On New Years Eve 2014 the case was finally settled, with a judge awarding a class action suit that I was part of over $26 Million. I posted daily on the blog up until the end of The Bush error, and the site is now run as a history of the whole fiasco. Feel free to browse the old postings, pictures, & comics (an HL favorite) It reveals the twisted history of the times. Thanks H.L.